I have never used the DNG + JPG setting on my camera before, always only using DNG.
So for proof of concept, here I tried out the in camera Mono JPG, with contrast set to high, sharpness to high. No adjustments to exposure, 'straight out of the camera'.
My couch @ f2, ISO 320, 1/60:
100% crop:
I really like the way the jpeg came out, and will experiment with it a bit more shooting outside to see how it looks in varied conditions.